The Sinn Féin leadership will meet this week to review the fallout from the Irish local and European elections, a senior party member has said.
Ireland’s main opposition party performed worse than expected in the elections last week.
Conor Murphy, Stormont’s economy minister, said there was “no getting away from it being a huge disappointment”.
But he said Sinn Féin would aim to put things right by analysing what went wrong.
The Newry and Armagh assembly member (MLA) was speaking to William Crawley on BBC Talkback as part of a series of party interviews in the run-up to polling day on 4 July.
The party is now shifting its focus to the upcoming general election at Westminster.
“We will recalibrate, get back on the horse and get ready for the next election,” said Mr Murphy.
He added that Sinn Féin would listen to the electorate and that there was no single reason behind what had happened in the Irish elections.
He also defended the party president Mary Lou McDonald and dismissed suggestions that her leadership could be at risk over it.
Sinn Fein is fielding 14 candidates in Northern Ireland in the Westminster election, and will not run in four constituencies – Belfast South and Mid Down, Belfast East, Lagan Valley and North Down.
Mr Murphy is the party’s director of elections in this campaign.
He defended the decision to stand aside in those areas and said the party had not endorsed any other parties, but wants to “support progressive candidates.”
Pressed on whether the party could end its long-standing policy of abstentionism and allow its MPs to take their seats in Parliament, Mr Murphy said that was “not even a debate” within the party.
